The Cornhusker NAMA Chapter kicked off the 2016-17 meeting year with an entertaining excursion to historic and scenic Nebraska City – the oldest incorporated city in the state. The half-day meeting kicked off with a hearty country breakfast at Lied Lodge. The Adirondack architectural design and styling of timbers and stone serves as a resource for the Arbor Day Foundation and other forestry related organizations. Here, members enjoyed a tour of the Lodge’s unique, highly efficient and sustainable biomass heating and cooling system that burns wood chips derived from recycled pallets to fuel the entire 140-room facility at one-third the cost of conventional HVAC systems.

Next was a tour of Arbor Lodge, the magnificent 52-room mansion and home of J. Sterling Morton. Probably best known as founder of Arbor Day, Morton was a highly successful and fragile businessman and newspaper editor who also served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland. Those attending were then treated to a relaxing tractor-pulled wagon ride adventure through the heavily wooded, gently rolling 260-acre Arbor Farms and Nursery. This National Historic Landmark and birthplace of Arbor Day includes a 22-acre nursery that inventories over a thousand different shade and ornamental trees, shrubs and perennials. The tour concluded with a stop at the famed apple orchard and vineyards where members got to pick a newly ripened apple from one of the trees representing more than 150 varieties.

Once a vast prairie void of trees, the 260-acre Arbor Farm now boasts dozens of tree species. In the distance atop the hill with picturesque views of South Table Rock Creek below is Arbor Manor, home of Arbor Day Founder J. Sterling Morton. Hazelnut Research Field (foreground) – second largest in the U.S. – helps show the way to better food production practices, environmental health and innovative agroforestry practices.

Members of the Cornhusker NAMA Chapter enjoy a picture-perfect outdoor fall outing to Arbor Farms, Nebraska City. The group enjoyed spectacular views of the famed 260-acre farm from the scenic outlook of Lied Lodge

Members of Cornhusker NAMA learn more about the Arbor Foundation and how trees got their start on barren Midwest prairies thanks to Arbor Day founder J. Sterling Morton. There, the group toured the sustainable biomass heating and cooling system that uses wood chips from recycled pallets to heat and cool the 140-room lodge for one-third the cost of conventional HVAC systems.